Bold, Fresh, and Vibrant. These words easily describe the fabrics Mary Catherine Folmer designs for her home-based textile and stationery company. The designer introduced her first line at the West Indies Market in Rosemary Beach last June. Encouraged by the response to her coastal-inspired designs and cheerful colors, she’s on to round three.
It seems Birmingham likes her too. Her pillows and stationary are already in Suite Dreams and Interiors by Kathy Harris and she’s busier than ever. Because Cotton and Quill is a “To the Trade” business, Mary Catherine is directing potential customers to these local stores—or their interior designer. While some items are in stock, she works with individual designers to create custom, signature looks with designs, scale, and color. Her designs are printed on linen, silk, and upholstery weight fabrics to create a range of uses. “When I design, I like to think about how an interior designer would mix the patterns and colors in a room. I work with a mill that can turn out a piece as small as a half of a yard for a single pillow to a room full of drapery.”
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ABOVE LEFT “When people see my fabrics, they don’t realize just how custom they are. These patterns go from personal inspiration to a hand drawn sketch to a computer file to the printed piece—with several other steps in between.” —Mary Catherine Folmer
ABOVE RIGHT Mary Catherine’s inspiration board and work area displays her sketches, fabric samples, and color palettes. Her closets and drawers are stuffed with pillow slips and bolts of yardage. “I started with pillows printed on linen. A local seamstress makes them and I use linen from King Cotton to back them, ” Mary Catherine says. “I’ve since found a mill that can print the designs on most any fabric so I can offer yardage for drapery and upholstery.”
Her newest collections, inspired by travels to the Mediterranean and Far East are filled with oversize graphics painted in emerald greens, deep sea blues, and warm neutrals. For more, visit cottonandquill.com.
To see more, visit Mary Catherine’s website, cottonandquill.com. Or, stop by Suite Dreams (205.414.1922) or Interiors by Kathy Harris (205.970.4161). For other designs and colors, call your interior designer.
Photography by Jean Allsopp
